Monday, January 30, 2017

My name is Jonathan Goforth. My wife, Rosalind and I are missionaries in China. I returned back from our furlough several months ago and have to admit I'm pretty excited to see my wife Rosalind and our children. Rosalind stayed a few extra months in Canada where we went for our furlough. She had a baby last September and we wanted to give the new little one time to grow before traveling all the way to China.I've been busy watching our building program in the new mission. No, hah, I'm not just standing there watching them work.The people here are poor. Workers steal a lot. If I don't keep track of every inch of wood, every nail, every piece of the project and the progress, the workers will steal.Our home finished just in time for when Rosalind arrived. It wasn't anything special, and I didn't want it to be anything more than what the people living in this city had. Our new home had a dirt floor, walls made of wood, nothing fancy. We settled the children into their beds then I let Rosalind work to make this our home, adding those little touches that make it special to us.I was quite surprised that word about us moving her spread so quickly. The Chinese people heard about the hand organ, the only item saved from the flood and were curious to see it. They'd also heard that we looked different. Our children had soft brown colored hair and our skin was a different color. They wanted to see Rosalind's feet which seemed huge to them. The Chinese women had tiny feet that had been wrapped since they were little girls to prevent them from growing. But their feet grew anyway. The bones curled under and made it so they couldn't walk very far. These women had never seen a girl with feet that stretched out and her toes flat on the ground. Years later the practice of binding women's feet was outlawed by the government. Chinese women don't do this in your time. I was very surprised to see the large number of men and women who came to see us. So many curious people, and they didn't yell or throw rocks at us. They just wanted to see the foreign people who moved there. We told them about the God who loves them. I gathered the men together and preached to them. Rosalind sat with women, listening and talking with them. They wanted to know all about us and we wanted to know about them.There were so many visitors, we couldn't keep up. We tried to talk with as many as we could, but we needed help. There was plenty for more missionaries to do, but the mission board said they didn't have any extra workers to send.One morning, as I was reading my Bible, I read the verse, My God will give you all you need according to His riches in glory, Philippians 4:19. All we need, huh. That was the answer. I ran to Rosalind. "I found this verse." I read it to her. "Do you realize what God is telling us?She laughed and hugged me. "Yes. God will send us the workers. But where will they come from? The mission said they didn't have any to share."I didn't know the answer, but I did know we could ask God. "We'll just have to pray." And so I did. Right there with her hand in mine. "Jesus, we need help. There are so many people here who are interested in learning about you. Send us someone who can help us do this work. Amen."Rosalind said, "Amen."Now we wait to see what God does.

Jonathan has many stories to share. Come back each Monday to find out what happened next.

Saturday, January 28, 2017

By Mary VeeBetween the Old and New TestamentAround 44 BC to the Beginning of the New Testament

From the Historical records

The time in between time. Four hundred years are in the process of passing since God last spoke through a prophet to His people.Remember we are counting backwards to year 0. The year is around 63 BC. (before Christ) 400 BC 300 BC 200 BC 100 BC Birth of Christ|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----|

The time between the Testaments is coming to a close. .Antipater, the man appointed king of Judah by Caesarhad a son and named him Herod.Herod grew up in Rome and received a Roman education. He made friends with the children of Caesar. He was a very smart man but also was considered a madman who became violent against his enemies and his friends. His problems could have partially due to the lead lined pipes in which water was provided. Others had suffered madness from this very reason.When he was twenty, Herod became governor and ruler over Jews in the Galilee area. He built strong fortresses that overlooked the roads using Jewish slaves and money.Back in Rome, Caesar was very popular. The people really liked him, but there were those who were jealous of his power and popularity. Julius Caesar, emperor of all Rome was killed by men in the Roman Senate. The people were shocked and upset. The government became a mess. Men fought to take power.Antipater who still ruled in Jerusalem was poisoned. His son, Herod, suspected Hyrcanus the Jew and former king.A rebellion rose up against Herod to get rid of him. He had every man in the rebellion captured and killed without a trial.The Sanhedrin, one of the groups of Jewish priests ordered Herod to stand trial. Most of the Sanhedrin were afraid to stand up to Herod when he arrived with his army, but one man did. Shamai. The rest of the Sanhedrin refused to back Shamai because they were afraid of Herod. The trial was stopped. That night, Hyrcanus visited Herod. "Look, if you will leave in peace, I will smooth things over with the Sanhedrin. But, you must promise that if you ever gain power, I will be given a high position with you."Herod left but was called to stand trial with the Romans. The Roman rulers sided with Herod and made him not only governor over Galilee again but also Jerusalem.The Jews desperately wanted to get rid of Herod. He was a cruel madman. When a new man came into power in Rome, a man who did not like Herod, the Jews thought they would finally get rid of him.War broke out against Rome the winners conquered Judah. Herod escaped. After he left, a Jew was appointed king in Jerusalem. Herod put on a disguise and fled to Rome. He begged the leader to let him be king in Jerusalem again. The leaders said, okay, and gave him troops to take back the city.Herod marched to Judea, conquered it by killing 13,000 men and became king, again. There were two sections of priests. The Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees were loyal to Herod. The Pharisees were not.The people preferred to listen to the Pharisees as their religious leaders.Herod died in 4 ADAnd so begins the New Testament.What happens next?Come back next time.This is the history, the events that happened to real people during the time between the Old and New Testaments.*********************************************************************************************

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

The time in between time. Four hundred years are in the process of passing since God last spoke through a prophet to His people.Remember we are counting backwards to year 0. The year is around 63 BC. (before Christ) 400 BC 300 BC 200 BC 100 BC Birth of Christ|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------|

The time between the Testaments is coming to a close. Roman General Pompey conquered Judah, took charge, but let the Jews worship in the temp as they had.Pompey had been very successful conquering land for the Romans. He led his armies back home ready for the next task.During this time, Julius, the other Roman general also successfully conquered lands for the Roman empire.The problem now became both wanted to be the man in charge of the Roman people and all the lands under their control.

The Rubicon River, in what is now known as Italy, divided the territories. A rule declared that neither general would cross the river. If either did an act of war would be declared. Julius Caesar ordered his men to cross the river. General Pompey was afraid when Caesar entered Rome. He and his army ran away. They ran to the east around the Mediterranean Sea then turned south toward Egypt. Judah was supposed to be on his side since he conquered them. He expected the Jews to help protect him and his army.Caesar declared himself emperor chasing Pompey. One of the appointed leaders of the Jews who hoped he would be crowned king of the Jews, convinced the council to fight for Caesar instead of Pompey. Caesar took 3,000 Jewish soldiers with him to Egypt to conquer Pompey.The reward Caesar gave the Jews was: they could rebuild the city walls Pompey destroyed, the heavy tax that Pompey set was taken away, they could worship in their temple the way they wanted, and several cities, including Jaffa were returned to Jewish rule. He even gave the power to the man who had deceived the Jewish people into going to the Romans for help.Queen Salome's son, Hyrcanus, a Jew, who could have continued the Jewish rule gave everything up to have more power. As a result, the Jews were now under Roman rule.The time is now 37 BC. We are closing in on the beginning of the New Testament.

So what happened next?Come back next time.This is the history, the events that happened to real people during the time between the Old and New Testaments.*********************************************************************************************

Monday, January 23, 2017

My name is Jonathan Goforth. My wife, Rosalind and I are missionaries in China. We have completed our first four years in China as missionaries and must now go home for a furlough.Furlough is the time missionaries visit the people who send money to pay for housing, food, transportation, and costs to build churches, buy Bibles to give, and other expenses. The missionaries report what they have done on the mission field, tell what they plan to do next, explain future projects, and share what God has done. After one year the missionaries get to return to their mission field.We packed our things and planned to leave on this day but there was a terrible delay. Unexpected storms came, flooding the area. Waters rose eight feet. We sat on our roof along with our son, Paul, and daughter, Florence, and watched the flood waters fill our home. Everything inside had water damage or was ruined by the black mold that came after the water soaked into the ground--except the hand organ.I realize this seems a silly way to look at what happened, but we lost all the wedding gifts and everything we owned in the fire when we first came and now we've lost everything in the flood when we are leaving for furlough. What I know is that God will give us what we need. He provided for our needs when we married--then the fire happened. He provided again these four years and the flood took it away. I'm feeling good about God providing for us when we return to China after the furlough.We returned to Canada with two of the four children God gave us. The other two children have gone to be with Jesus. We spent long days visiting churches and people who have prayed for us. This isn't really restful like it is supposed to be. We go to a different home almost every night. But, this is part of God's plan. Every moment I had free I planned the next idea for a new mission in Changte.Yes, I know the Chinese from my time period are especially afraid of foreigners and tend to be cruel, but God has stirred this desire in my heart to help them. To tell them there is a God who loves them. And if I listen to God and do as He asks, there will be precious lives saved who will go to heaven.Toward the end of our furlough year in Canada, God blessed Rosalind and me with another daughter we named, Helen. We decided I should go ahead to China alone to give little Helen two months to get old enough to travel such a long way. When I arrived in China I found out my friend Donald bought the land for our new mission while I was gone. He was very happy to see me return. "Jonathan, in honor of you return you get to babysit the building site of the chapel and the house while I go out and preach."Just what I wanted to do. Oh well. I am going to make this an exciting job as long as it takes.

Jonathan has many stories to share. Come back each Monday to find out what happened next.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

The time in between time. Four hundred years are in the process of passing since God last spoke through a prophet to His people.Remember we are counting backwards to year 0. The year is around 63 BC. (before Christ) 400 BC 300 BC 200 BC 100 BC Birth of Christ|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------|

Two brothers, Hrycanus and Aristobulus did not get along. The younger, stronger brother wanted to rule the Jews, but his mother, Queen Salome gave the throne to his older brother on her death bed.Their fighting knew no bounds. Aristobulus, the younger one, conquered his older brother's army and took the throne.Hrycanus' advisor set up a counter attack months later, giving him the throne back for all the Jewish land except the mighty Temple fortress where Aristobulus hid.In the meantime, two Roman generals set out to make Rome the leader of the world: Julius Caesar and Pompey. General Pompey conquered Spain and took his army east conquering what is now Turkey then he went farther east toward Iran in the name of Rome. He turned south and stopped for a time in Damascus.While General Pompey stopped in Damascus, Hrycanus had a bright idea. He went to Damascus and asked to meet with the General. "You must understand, General. My mother, Queen Solome, decreed that I should have the throne and rule the Jews. My brother, though, has brought an army against me, and has fought since the day our mother died. If you would just back me on her decree, I'm sure we could live in peace."The general agreed to think about it.Days later, his brother, Aristobulus had the same idea. Aristobulus went to Damascus to visit the general. "Please believe me when I say my brother is weak. He is an incompetent leader. I am the stronger one with leadership skills. The country would be better off with me in charge. If I could get your support, I'm sure we could live in peace."The general agreed to think about it.A group of priests called Sanhedrin also went to visit general Pompey. "General, these brothers have been fighting since the day they were born. We know they have come to speak with you, each one wanting your support. We suggest you not listen to either one of them. We are happy to take over the leadership of the Jews."The general agreed to think about it.And the general did. For a whole year he thought about it. In 63 BC, General Pompey marched his army to Jerusalem. This was an important city. If he took control of this land, the Roman power would be strengthened. Amazingly enough, Aristobulus surrendered to the Roman troops. He and the fellow survivors were marched in shame to Rome. Hrycanus, though, pulled his army back and hid until they could regroup. Pompey continued to fight against Hrycanus until the Jewish king gave up.General Pompey marched his troops into the temple. He walked back to the Holy of Holies and used his sword to slice the veil. Inside this inner room he looked around. No one really knows how he felt, only what he didn't do. Pompey left everything as it was. He took no booty even though there were valuable pieces in the temple. Pompey ordered his men to leave and not take or touch anything.He allowed Hyrcanus to remain as high priest and even called him king, but Jerusalem and all Jews were placed under Roman rule at that point. Before he left the area, he ordered his army to knock down the city walls to take away the Jews defenses, and he ordered a heavy Roman tax on all Jews. Maybe Hyrcanus realized the Jews could lose their way of worshiping God so he refused to surrender like his brother. Maybe he thought they would lose the temple like they had when the Greeks came. Whatever the reason that made him fight instead of surrendering to Pompey, the Jews were allowed to continue worshiping God as the law of Moses instructed.Pompey's work was done. The Roman empire now spread east and south to Jerusalem.If these two brothers hadn'tt fought....if these Jewish men had gone to God for help instead of the Romans ... the history books would have a different story to tell.So what happened next?Come back next time.This is the history, the events that happened to real people during the time between the Old and New Testaments.*********************************************************************************************

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

The time in between time. Four hundred years are in the process of passing since God last spoke through a prophet to His people.Remember we are counting backwards to year 0. The year is around 143 BC. (before Christ) 400 BC 300 BC 200 BC 100 BC Birth of Christ|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------|

And so the Macabees led the Hasmoneans. The Hasmoneans were Jews who allowed the Greeks to influence their culture and had veered away from worshiping the Jewish God.Simon from the Macabees became king, drawing all the Jews together. The temple was restored and worship returned to what Moses had said. This didn't take away the Greek culture that had influence the Hasmonean people. Time went by, people grew old and a new queen, Salome was on the throne. The Jews continued to worship God in the Temple as Moses instructed. She had two sons. The older, Hyrcanus and the younger, Aristobulus. On her death bed, Salome named Hyrcanus, the weaker one, the next king. Aristobulus, the stronger one, fierce, and the popular one among the people, was not happy with the decision.The two fought among themselves. Jews from all around took sides. Civil war broke out.King Hyrcanus ruled from Jericho instead of Jerusalem. Aristobulus had his army in Jerusalem. On and on the two brothers and their armies fought, destroying buildings, homes, and businesses. Aristobulus rallied his army and attacked Jericho, winning the battle. In exchange for his life, Hyrcanus gave up the throne. For a few weeks, there was peace in the land. One of Hyrcanus advisors, Antipater, said, "You can take back your throne. Your mother gave it to you." He continued to push his message until Hyrcanus gave in. An army was formed to fight his brother to take back the crown. "I'll take care of everything for you," said Antipater. "I'll lead the battle while you hide here."Antipater did as he said. His army of rebellion moved into the city and chased Aristobulus and his men far back into the city. They hid in the temple behind courtyard walls surrounding the temple where Antipater and his army couldn't reach them. These wall formed a mighty fortress. As long as Aristobulus stayed inside, he and his army would be safe for a very long time.Even though the brothers didn't get along--AT ALL--they still worshipped God. Twice a day they stopped to send sacrifices. The army on the outside of the temple sent up their sacrifices over the wall and the army inside offered theirs. The priests refused to take sides and gladly went about doing their duties.Months passed. There seemed no end to the civil war.Hyrcanus ruled all of Jerusalem except the area inside the temple fortress. Aristobulus pulled inside the mighty walls. One day, when the time to send up a sacrifice to the priest came, one of Hyrcanus' advisors suggested he send up a pig instead of a sheep.Hyrcanus, the weak brother, listened to the advisor and agreed. "Send the pig. That should stir my brother into a final battle."Remember what started all the trouble years ago? The Jews were willing to live under Greek rule as long as they could worship God in their way. The Greeks mocked them, ordering the people to offer pigs as a sacrifice. The Macabee family refused starting the rebellion against the Greeks.It is said that when Hyrcanus' pig sacrifice touched the temple walls, the land shook in all directions covering four hundred miles!Talk about a total disaster.I had known about the Macabees hard work over many years to restore the temple and worship of God. All went well...until these two brothers fought.So what happened next?Come back next time.This is the history, the events that happened to real people during the time between the Old and New Testaments.*********************************************************************************************

Monday, January 16, 2017

My name is Jonathan Goforth. My wife, Rosalind and I are missionaries in China. Donald, one of the other missionary men, and I had set out to visit the villages and cities in the area assigned to us by the mission committee.We mostly wanted to show we were friendly to the people who lived there and see if there was a church. We wore the same clothing as the local people and tried our best to walk and talk like the locals. The Chinese people were fearful of all foreigners who came to their villages. To defend themselves they threw rocks, yelled, and ran foreign devils out of the town before a word could be spoken. This made visiting a bit challenging.One day as we walked the countryside we saw a village in the distance. We walked along the road the way we saw the Chinese. We spoke to each other in Chinese. We were very careful to fit in.In the middle of the village was a big tent, like a circus tent. The signs indicated some performance was going on. The rest of the village seemed empty, but the tent was very crowded. We walked close to see the performance, making sure to stand in the back row.And then things went bad.A Chinese woman happened to turn. She looked at our faces and screamed, "Foreign Devils. Foreign Devils!" All the people in hearing range turned toward us. The panic in their faces scared me. I yanked Donald's arm and said in Chinese, "Let's get out of here."We ran for our lives. Rocks pelted my back and heals. The crowd shouted words that weren't nice. They didn't even know us.A loud crack sounded. Rocks stopped hitting us.The crowd's voices turned away from us.I turned. The main support for the tent had cracked and broken in two, collapsing heavy fabric onto the people still inside. The people screamed and ran to pull men and women out of the tent.They had forgotten all about us.It may seem like we should have gone back to help, but in truth, we knew the people didn't want us to offer.It took us about eighteen months to visit every village and city in the Honan region. God protected us every step of the way. So, it seemed time to set up a mission in Honan.

Jonathan has many stories to share. Come back each Monday to find out what happened next.

About Me

Welcome. I am a writer and speaker. My works include suspense/mystery young adult works and articles published in Children's periodicals, book reviews in library journals; three completed YA manuscripts. I have an MA in Guidance and Counseling, am a certified elementary teacher, a BRE from a Bible College, have been a case worker and camp counselor for the homeless, neglected, and abused. Email: maryveewriter@gmail.com

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